We live, simultaneously, in two different worlds. Ultimately, we live in the World of Nature, a world that we did not create and the world upon which all life depends. Most immediately, we inhabit a "human world" that we create ourselves. Because our human world is the result of our own choices and actions, we can say, quite properly, that we live, most immediately, in a “political world.” In this blog, I hope to explore the interaction of these two worlds that we call home.

Follow by Email

Gary A. Patton

I was an elected official in Santa Cruz County, California for twenty years, from 1975 to 1995. Now, I am an environmental attorney, practicing law in Santa Cruz County. If you would like to contact me, send me an email at gapatton@mac.com.

Kim Jong Un is not the only presidential killer walking around. Take President Rodrigo Duterte, of the Philippines, who has bragged about the killings he has ordered. Duterte, for instance, claims that he would "kill his own child," if necessary, to advance the war on drugs that is one of his big public policy priorities. Here's a nice picture of Duterte, so you can avoid him, if you happen to run across him anywhere:

Kim Jong Un and Duterte are not the only presidents who have ordered people killed. To be fair, both George W. Bush and Barack Obama, each of whom served as President of the United States for eight years, must also be counted among the presidential killers. Here they are. They look happy!

President Kim Jong Un kills "traitors." President Rodrigo Duterte kills "drug dealers." These are not admirable people. And neither are "terrorists," of course, whom our own presidents have chosen to condemn to death.

Here is my modest proposal. Let's stop allowing our presidents to model their behavior on the behavior of presidents like Kim Jong Un and Rodrigo Duterte. Let's withdraw permission from our president to kill people, without a trial, in our name.